The Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Program (MHDREP) of Xavier University of Louisiana began on January 14, 2002 with the award of a $2.3 million Endowment from the National Center for Minority Health Disparities (NCMHD) of the National Institutes of Health. A second proposal was submitted to NCMHD in June 2002 in order to increase the corpus of this fund. This proposal resulted in a second award of $5 million, which was added to the Endowment corpus on October 24, 2002. Additional awards in 2003-2006 bring the corpus to $22.3 million. The mission of the MHDREP, now called the Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education (CMHDRE), at Xavier University of Louisiana is to provide the infrastructure that is required to conduct research and provide clinical experiential training and community outreach education aimed at eliminating health disparities. The earnings from this Endowment are used to support ongoing projects that increase the research capability of the College of Pharmacy in the area of diabetes and cancer, promote health disparities research, and increase the pool of underrepresented minorities who pursue advanced education in biomedical and behavioral research. The goals of this project are: a) to provide an environment to support and strengthen the research interest and activities of current and new faculty members related to health disparities with a specific focus on diabetes and cancer, b) to develop student-oriented programs to support and promote involvement of students in research activities, c) to integrate health promotion, education, and disease prevention into primary care services. These goals will be achieved by: a) investing in programs to enhance recruitment, research development, continuing education, and retention of faculty members, b) providing financial support for research activities, c) providing opportunities and training for students committed to pursuing postgraduate studies, and d) enhancing the research infrastructure of the College and the University. Implementation of this program will increase the ability of the College to produce a pool of well-educated health professionals and biomedical researchers attuned to the issues of disparities research.